Melrose Park in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Sharp Memorial Park
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, February 1, 2025
1. Sharp Memorial Park Marker
Private Harold Sharp
April 1, 1896-June 1, 1918
Co. C. 2nd Engineers
Who gave his life at Chateau Thierry during the World War
Erected 1929 by Memorial Park District.
Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Parks & Recreational Areas • War, World I.
Location. 41° 54.102′ N, 87° 52.578′ W. Memorial is in Melrose Park, Illinois, in Cook County. It is on 35th Avenue 0.1 miles north of Division Street. The plaque is on a stone on the eastern edge of Sharp Park. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 1609 North 36th Avenue, Melrose Park IL 60160, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in Greater Chicago. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Cpl. Robert H. Corley and Pfc. Ronnie L. Russell (approx. 0.3 miles away); Vietnam War Memorial (approx. 0.3 miles away); Joe McMillan (approx. 0.6 miles away); Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.7 miles away); Ralph "Babe" Serpico Field (approx. 0.7 miles away); San Giovanni Battista Scalabrini (approx. 0.8 miles away); Pvt. Albert E. Fenhouse (approx. one mile away); POW-MIA Memorial (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Melrose Park.
More about this memorial. Sharp Park
this page online
The Memorial Park District serves a section of Chicago's western suburbs that includes all or parts of Bellwood, Hillside, Berkeley, Melrose Park, Northlake and Stone Park.
Regarding Sharp Memorial Park. Details about Harold Sharp's death in World War I could not be found, but some information about his life was able to be determined with some certainty. Sharp was born to Harris and Rose (Grinker) Shapiro, who according to the 1910 and 1920 censuses lived in Melrose Park. He and at least some of his family members adjusted the last name to Sharp (Rose's gravesite uses Sharp), although the family appears in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses with the last name Shapiro.
In any case, Harold Sharp appears on U.S. Army manifests traveling to France in 1917; his address is listed as 116 Park Avenue in Elmhurst, Illinois, the home address of his sister Anna Ollswang. (Anna's husband, Harry, operated the Ollswang's Department Store in Elmhurst from 1915 until 1962.) Anna's name and address appear as Harold's emergency contact on his U.S. government burial card; Sharp's father, named as Harold Shapiro on that same card, is also listed
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, February 1, 2025
2. Sharp Memorial Park
Sharp was identified as missing in action in the Chicago Tribune list of casualties published on July 30, 1918; the MIA status may have been the result of his being first buried at or near where he died on the battlefield. Sharp's government burial card states that he was killed in action on June 7, 1918 (not June 1, as stated on this memorial), and that his initial burial was "Grave No. 107, Plot 70 Myers, North Slope of Hill 192," seemingly near the Chateau Thierry battlefield. In June 1919, according to that burial card, Sharp's remains were disinterred and reburied at the American cemetery in Belleau (likely the Aisne-Marne Cemetery). Then in 1921, his body was disinterred again for repatriation and returned to an undertaker in Chicago.
It is not known where Sharp's final resting place was after being returned to the U.S.; however, both his father and at least one of his brothers appear to have been buried in the Jewish Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. Sharp became one of the namesakes for the Sarlo-Sharp American Legion post, which began operating out of Melrose Park no later than 1928.
Also see . . . Pvt. Harold R. Sharp. Find A Grave website entry:
Final burial details for Sharp are unknown. (Submitted on February 2, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
Credits. This page was last revised on March 6, 2026. It was originally submitted on February 1, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 278 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 1, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.
